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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, @TTO W. KEIL, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residin at New York city, in the county of New ork and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Manufacturing Transparent @urfaces, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to the treat ment of open-work materials, such for ex ample as wire screening which may be of about l2meshes to the square inch, although closer or finer material could be employed if desired.

The object is to produce a material which will be semi-transparent, that is to say will allow some light to pass through the same, although ordinarily the product will not be sufficiently transparent to enable a person to look through the material. The product may be used as an interior decoration, an example being for imitation of stained glass in interior decoration, for example interior church windows and the like.

The wire screening or other similar base is first dipped or otherwise given a heavy coating, in a solution of sodium silicate, commonly known as water glass. The solution is preferably at or near the saturation point, when applied to the base.

After dippin or otherwise coatin the screening with t e water glass, it is al owed to dry, and after drying, it will be found that the meshes of the gauze or screening are practically all filled up with a dried to of sodium silicate. The base, carryin the of sodium silicate, substantially lling its meshes, is then coated with a suitable waterproof varnish, and for this pur ose, varnishes containing celluloid as a been found to" give good results, although T do not limit myself to the use of these particular varnishes, since for special purposes, other kinds of varnish may be preferable. After drying the varnish, the product is ready to be cut up into suitable sizes and shapes, for the particular use at hand.

lln some instances it has been found advisable, where colored products are required, to apply a suitable dye or pigment, either to a portion of the surface, or to ll: entire surface. The fine pigment may he aplied Specification of Letters Patent.

use have Patented duly ll, lath.

application filed June lit, 1917. serial No. l'M-Awl.

to the wet mass directly after applying the sodium silicate solution, or after drying the sodium silicate solution on the base, a suspension of the pigment in a suitable varnish or similar vehicle may be applied, either to the whole or a part of the surface, or at this stage a solution of a suitable dye,

for example an alcohol or other suitable solvent may be painted or sprayed upon the dried base, or in some instances the dye to be employed may be dissolved in the sodium silicate solution or in the varnish, before applying to the base. in many instances it is preferable to apply a solution of dye in alcohol, alcohol-ether mixture, or similar solvent, to the product produced by dryin the water glass solution on the base, an b thereafter coating the entire product wit the varnish.

In some cases it is advisable to apply saw eral coats of the water glass, and to after each application, and in this modification of the process, the dye may be dissolved in one or more of the solutions of water glass forming the successive coatings. Tn many cases also, it is advisable to apply several coats of varnish, one or more of which may carry the dye in solution.

The product possesses particular advantages over many of the products heretofore produced for use as substitutes for semitransparent glass, in that it is non-inflammable and can be cheaply produced.

What l claim is:

l. A process of making a semi-transparent P substitute for glass, which comprises applying to a relatively rigid foraminous base, a

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